2003 Daytona 500 (Dale Earnhardt Survives)
The 2003 Daytona 500, the 45th running of the event, was the first race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup season, having been held on February 16 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. 2000 NASCAR Busch Series champion Jeff Green won his second career Winston Cup pole. Prior to the race, the drivers paid tribute by having decals on their cars in honor of the astronauts who were killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster two weeks earlier, similar to the 1986 Daytona 500, in which they paid tribute to the fallen crew members of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Dale Earnhardt Sr. announced pre-race that this would be his last season as a driver. After the announcement NASCAR officials, drivers and fans organized and held a massive celebration of the career of Dale Earnhardt, who was naturally at the center of the celebrations beaming that old grin of his. Earnhardt made a few shoutouts, notably to Kirk Shelmerdine, an old crew chief of Earnhardt's, his son, Dale Jr., his wife Teresa and to Howard Johnson's, a popular restaurant franchise, the largest in the world, of which Earnhardt was a regular customer at. Dale ran an orange scheme for this race, with HoJo's alongside GM Goodwrench as a primary sponsor. The green flag came nearly half an hour earlier than planned, due to the impending rain showers which officials feared would lead to the race having to be completed on another day. Jeff Green was out in front at the start of the race, but he was quickly passed by Michael Waltrip, who led the first 34 laps. Jeff Gordon took the lead from Waltrip on lap 35, with Michael Waltrip retaining second position. On lap 42, the race's first caution came out after Bobby Labonte spun out entering the backstretch. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. took the lead from Tony Stewart as the field raced back to the caution. The first round of green flag pit stops came on lap 50. The most significant incident of the race came on lap 58: Ryan Newman was running solidly in the Top 15, but defending Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton hit Ken Schrader and both he and Newman hit the wall. The rear tire fixture underneath Newman's car detached from the car as he went sliding into the infield grass, and the No.12 went airborne and when it landed, its right-rear wheel dug into the dirt, causing Newman to flip several times before landing on its roof. Most of the car came apart in the infield, but Newman was uninjured and was able to walk away from the crash under his own power. Following Newman's flip, there were 6 caution laps, during which a light rain began to fall, so the race was red-flagged when the rain became heavier. Following a rain delay which lasted over an hour, the race restarted with Michael Waltrip back in front. This did not last, however, as Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed his teammate on lap 61. The race remained under the green flag, with Dale Sr. leading the entire time, until lap 95, when Jeff Green and Jimmy Spencer collided entering turn 4, bringing out a 3rd caution. Spencer ended up hitting the frontstretch retaining wall and coming to rest just past the start-finish line. Spencer had a very similar crash in the 2000 race. A caution came on lap 103 for debris, and then Ward Burton hit the turn 4 wall on lap 106, bringing out another. There were 3 yellow flag laps after Burton's crash, and then the race was once red-flagged again due to more rain. Although it briefly looked as if the race would get back underway, the race was eventually called off due to the forecast of more rain and Dale Sr., who had led since lap 61, was declared as the winner. It was his 3rd Daytona 500 win, and second in a row. The remaining fans who had toughened out the rain cheered as loud as they did when Richard Petty took his last lap years prior. This was the 3rd Daytona 500 to have been shortened by rain, following the races held in 1965 and 1966. This race was also the shortest Daytona 500 ever. Category:Dale Earnhardt Survives